True story: I learned how to drive in a cemetery.
“You can’t hurt anyone in here!” was my dad’s reasoning as I remember it.
And while I’d still be helpless at parallel parking without a backup camera, I learned one lesson that stuck.
Don’t go back any farther than you need to.
The idea here is that too often you get so focused looking backward that you don’t realize you already have room to go forward.
…and then you hit your best friend’s parked car in the driveway (another unfortunate but true story).
This logic also applies to self-reflection.
When we want to improve ourselves, we can focus on what we’ve done wrong and dissect every nuance of every mistake past the point of being productive. We obsess over the past even when we already know how to do better in the future.
It’s important to look back, but if you’re rehashing that awkward phone call or kicking yourself for asking for a “bater wottle” in an interview 5 years ago, then consider whether you’re better off looking behind or in front.
If you’ve learned and grown, there’s no reason to keep going back.
To being better without driving with the rearview mirror,
Elizabeth